title: Tropomyosin-4 correlates with higher SBR grades and tubular differentiation in infiltrating ductal breast carcinomas: an immunohistochemical and proteomics-based study.
abstract: The aim of this study is to evaluate tropomyosin-4 (TM4) expression in infiltrating ductal breast carcinomas (IDCAs), as well as its prognostic significance. Using a 2-DE/MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry investigation coupled with an immunohistochemical approach, we have assessed the expression of TM4 in IDCAs, as well as in other types of breast tumors. Proteomic analyses revealed an increased expression of tropomyosin-4 in IDCA tumors. Using immunohistochemistry, overexpression of tropomyosin-4 was confirmed in 51 additional tumor specimens. Statistical analyses revealed, however, no significant correlations between tropomyosin-4 expression and clinicopathological parameters of the disease including tumor stage, patient age, estrogen and progesterone receptor status, and lymph node metastasis occurrence. A significant association was found, however, with a high Scarf-Bloom-Richardson (SBR) grade, a known marker of tumor severity. Additionally, the SBR component showing a correlation with TM4 expression was the tubular differentiation status. This study demonstrates the upregulation of tropomyosin-4 in IDCA tissues, which may highlight its involvement in breast cancer development. Our findings also support a link between tropomyosin-4 expression and aggressiveness of IDCA tumors.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Immuno-Oncologie Moléculaire, Faculté de Médecine de Monastir, Al Munastir, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kabbage
authors.forename: Mounir
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trimeche
authors.forename: Hela
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ben Nasr
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hammann
authors.forename: Lauriane
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kuhn
authors.forename: Bechr
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hamrita
authors.forename: Karim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chahed
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001940:Breast / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D015180:Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D020543:Proteome / Q000378:metabolism; D040901:Proteomics / Q000379:methods; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; D014335:Tropomyosin / Q000378:metabolism*; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D020543:Proteome; C501213:TPM4 protein, human; D014335:Tropomyosin